Comments on: A Bitchin’ Debaclehttps://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/
the neverending reference interview of lifeTue, 17 Mar 2015 16:03:10 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/By: Librarian Bryanhttps://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3089
Wed, 09 Feb 2011 21:25:14 +0000http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3089A 100 item list is too big to begin with. Changing three items at the first squawk was knee jerk. With a list that big there is going to diversity within it. What it boils down to: Bitch didn’t do a good enough job making the list in the first place.
]]>By: Gail Zachariahhttps://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3056
Sun, 06 Feb 2011 23:22:53 +0000http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3056I agree with Andy above. Bitch should have left the list and revised it in a few months.

At this point, Bitch can’t offer a reasonable explanation because there is none. They made a series of big mistakes.
Any explanation just underscores the mistakes.

What a PR nightmare. I predict that this will be taught in library schools as what not to do.

And, while it isn’t appropriate to say that Bitch censored books, they did in fact self-censor their list.

And, it seems absurd to suggest a book discussion at this point. People were discussing the books but they in essence ended the discussion by taking the books of the list. I don’t have any respect for the magazine which makes me sad because I really liked the idea of their list.

]]>By: Andyhttps://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3052
Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:35:21 +0000http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3052Yeah. If you believe in your case, make it. Don’t tell people to hunt for it, especially if you want to justify the decision.
]]>By: Sunday Speculation: Uncomfortable Literature « Agnostic, Maybehttps://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3051
Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:32:00 +0000http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3051[…] Comments « A Bitchin’ Debacle […]
]]>By: Andyhttps://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3050
Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:27:40 +0000http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3050I thought the book club was a good idea in order to turn some of the negative publicity around on it. Why not make those books the focus of greater conversation rather than leave them on a list? However, everything leading up to that was felt like a misstep, like they lost their audience before they could make amends. Not a good sign, surely.
]]>By: Andyhttps://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3049
Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:26:07 +0000http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3049That’s one third rail I’m not going to touch upon either. I agree, it has sparked a bigger debate as to what the list means.
]]>By: Andyhttps://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3048
Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:25:10 +0000http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3048Their followup post outlines the steps they took to construct the list. Which makes any changes they a little more perplexing since they took the time and energy to make the list.
]]>By: Andyhttps://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3047
Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:45:00 +0000http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3047Thank you for your comments, Alyssa.

Not to rehash what I wrote, but what I find perplexing is that an explanation of how much research went into creating the list when the books were very casually removed. I say very casually because there wasn’t much of a fight or defense put up for it. If there was research, there would be justification, an acknowledgement that ‘yes, we know this book is difficult because X issue, and we decided to include it’. Instead, it just looks sloppy. While one could say that the new information on Book Smugglers was not previously uncovered, it just makes the list creation process look haphazard. Also, it’s hard to say that it isn’t canon when the description touts it as such.

In my personal opinion, Bitch really should have defended the list as it first appeared. By removing titles, Bitch has opened everything on the list to similar scrutiny. It makes the process of list making suspect, it makes future lists start out already under suspicion, and, well, it just looks bad unless there is an overwhelming and compelling case to swap out a book. There might have been an overwhelming and compelling case, but it was never made in a overt manner. Telling me to find the staff postings is not making the case. It weakens the resulting argument of “it’s our list, we can put what we want on it” because it shows that outside influences can get stuff moved onto or off the list.

]]>By: Alyssa Vincenthttps://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3043
Sun, 06 Feb 2011 17:23:40 +0000http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3043Thanks for the thoughtful post, Andy. I volunteer at the Bitch Library, and say that not as a way to mark myself as some kind of “authority” on the matter, but rather to explain the many conflicting emotions that I’m having about this situation.

As a first-year MLS student, I took immediate issue with the cries of censorship, which I’m glad to see being denounced by many people. But that’s the only thing that I can say I feel 100% certain about in this issue. The discussions that resulted from this controversy (regarding comments, the books themselves, the pitfalls of anonymity, review processes, etc.) were fascinating, uncomfortable, and revealing. Exactly what they should have been.

Upon first thought, I agreed that Bitch was not putting forth any kind of canon. However, after some reflection, I realize that that is often what online best-of lists connote in the Web 2.0 world. I’m thrilled that the staff responded to a need for feminist YA literature recommendations, because they’re proving that libraries can often directly respond to the needs of their community. I just hope that in the future Bitch, or any other list-compilers, make the selection process and resulting revisions as transparent as possible so that the literature becomes the focal point, rather than the politics of list-making.

To end this novel of a comment, I hope the last paragraph of your post is what remains long after the controversy of this particular situation has died down.

]]>By: Pamhttps://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3042
Sun, 06 Feb 2011 17:11:19 +0000http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-bitchin-debacle/#comment-3042I felt like the whole list was a game in the first place. YA is hot, lists are hot let’s make one, that shiz will sell like hot cakes! They caved. I feel like the book club is throwing a bone to a starving dog, the dog being the commentators who obviously didn’t agree with the removal of certain books such as Tender Morsels.

I think Bitch would have done a lot better if they would have used some common sense going into the list in the first place, if you are going to try to push boundaries (and please do) and educate my children in feminism then talk to educators, those with degrees in library science and other fields and make a list that you can have the balls to back up the first time.